Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and the Greatness of This New WWE Rivalry

We are finally seeing the true greatness of Cody Rhodes and the potential that lies in a face turn all too long in the making.

While Damien Sandow has become public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the second-generation wrestler, the feud between the two up-and-coming stars in the WWE is one of the better storylines heading into SummerSlam.

And it should be.

Wrestling is cyclic in that it uses storylines over and over again to reach the masses because they relate to all of us.

The jilted lover (AJ and Dolph Ziggler), the fight over control (the McMahon Family), the disrespect card (CM Punk) and the best friends breaking up (Rhodes and Sandow) are classic wrestling angles that seem to always deliver.

In the case of Rhodes and Sandow, best friends with a common goal may not always be the best-laid plan when the World title is involved in the story.

This angle takes two great performers (Sandow, as I said, is Lanny Poffo and Nick Bockwinkel all in one) and uses their strengths against each other. While the charisma oozes out of Sandow with his Shakespearean dialect and his overgrown beard, Rhodes has proved to be every bit as good a mat technician as a younger Chris Jericho or a Bobby Roode.

If you haven’t noticed, I like where this angle is going and I like how the creative team has allowed Rhodes to open his mouth more—making him more confident and expressive as a face. It also seems the fans like it as well.

And best thing of all, the World title Alberto Del Rio is wearing around his waist seems to be inconsequential right now. The briefcase that contains the contract Sandow owns, and that Rhodes wants, is more important right now than Alberto Del Rio’s ownership of the WHC.

This, in my opinion, is great for the WWE Universe.

Matches, feuds and rivalries do not always require a belt to be on the line—a common denominator suffices. The fact that this feud is fresh bodes well for the WWE moving forward as it brings in new talent.

Back in the day, Dusty Rhodes was not always the “American Dream” we loved throughout the decades of wrestling.

Rhodes started his career as a rule-breaking heel, tagging with fellow Texan Dick Murdoch to form the tag team The Texas Outlaws in the American Wrestling Association. In 1974, Rhodes turned face after turning on tag team partner Pak Song and manager Gary Hart during a match in Florida against Eddie and Mike Graham.

In the same kind of situation where tag team members do not always jell together or do not remain in tandem forever, Sandow is the same character for Cody as Song was for Dusty.

No matter how you slice it, that makes for great theater.

This is a feud that must gain momentum throughout the summer and must result in Rhodes winning the World Heavyweight Championship.